


Fairytale

by orphan_account



Category: Common Law
Genre: Angst and Feels, Divorce, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-22
Updated: 2013-01-22
Packaged: 2017-11-26 10:03:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/649407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It took four words to shatter the fairytale. One sentence to change Wesley's life forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fairytale

 

A divorce is like an amputation: you survive it, but there's less of you. - Margaret Atwood

* * *

"I want a divorce."

Wes stood there in the foyer, just staring in shock. He couldn't deny there were problems in the marriage, but for Alex to be the one to call it quits...

Alex, the strong-willed woman he had fallen in love with during law school, the one who was far too determined to simply give up - it just stunned Wes into silence.

He had thought they were doing better. They had started going out on dates more often, enjoying each other's company - taking sudden weekend trips up north in the Range Rover, just like they did when they first got married. They had even discussed starting to try for a family once the new year came around.

With all the good things that had happened recently in their relationship, Alex wanting a divorce blindsided Wes.

"Alex, tell me this is a joke." Wes stood there, trying to get her to say otherwise. "This _is_ a joke right?"

Alex merely shook her head, not daring to look at her startled husband. To be honest, divorce had weighed heavily on her mind for a long time, never really wanting to go forward with it in hopes that things would get better between them, or that Wes would return to practicing Law, something other than the impasse they were at now.

"I just..." She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "I just think is what will be best for us."

It hurt. It honestly hurt. Wes couldn't believe what was happening. He still wanted to believe it was a joke, but he noticed Alex wasn't wearing her wedding ring, wouldn't make eye contact with him. She was crying.

"Alex..." He didn't know what to say to make things better. "Alex, _come on_ , let's not take drastic measures." He was pleading with her at this point. "Let's just sit down and talk things out."

"Talking it out doesn't work anymore, Wes and you know it!"  
"You're not even _trying_!"  
"Because you **_refuse_** to make the effort and fix what we talk about!"

There it went again, another talk between them escalating into a full blow verbal argument. Such was the norm in the Mitchell household, happening more often than not ever since Wes was transferred from Missing Persons to Robbery-Homicide.

The fights always followed the same vein: Alex disagreeing with his career change. Wes not understanding why Alex couldn't realize he couldn't go back to Law. Over and over, like a broken record. At least they managed to throw up facades when Travis was over.

Alex shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes, pulling an envelope off the side table and handing it over to him.

"You...can take what you want out of it, and we can forgo alimony and splitting up the property." She then looked Wes in the eye for the first time that night. "I just wouldn't want to hash this out in court with you."

Wes grimaced, staring at the envelope as if it were infected with the Black Plague. He knew Alex was a great lawyer, she had beaten him in mock trials throughout their relationship - and likened her to a shark in blood-infested waters. But this..this meant all the work he had put into their relationship was for nothing.

That he had failed.

" _Alex_..."

" _Wes_." She stopped him before he could get another word out. "I'll leave you to sign the papers."

He was stupefied. Watching Alex turn her head and head towards the stairs, in utter disbelief. How could she give up so easily?

He swallowed the knot in the back of his throat, trying to go to after her. "Alex, you're not making any sense! How can you just...give up like this when things have been going well for a while?" Wes was ignored. " _Alexandra!_ "

That got Alex to stop in her tracks. There were only a few occasions where Wes would refer to her by her full name. When he proposed to her, when they exchanged vows at the altar, and now.

It unnerved her a little bit. But she knew that there was no way what was broken in the marriage could be fixed. It was a lost cause. She gripped the railing a little tighter and then turned around.

"I met a man when I was in Law School." She started. "A complete bookworm, who never deviated from the rules. That man asked me out on our first date to the Pier in Santa Monica, he would organize study sessions for the two of us that almost always ended up with us making out or talking till 7 in the morning."

Her voice shook a little, but she held on strong. "When I'd get sick, he'd ignore my demands for him to not come to my apartment and would bring soup and a movie for us to watch. He'd send me little text messages and emails to get me through the day with a smile. He'd make me laugh.

He was a gentleman through and through, going up to my father and asking him for his blessing to allow him to marry me. He then took me back to where we had our first date, and proposed to me at sunset."

She shook her head, looking at Wes - who had gone pale and had a hardened expression on his face. "I married Wesley Mitchell, the lawyer. I didn't marry Detective Wesley Mitchell."

Those words were like nails being driven into Wes' heart. To watch her say she married a lawyer and not a cop was heartbreaking. It was like she couldn't see past his mid-life crisis to keep their marriage afloat. She was hung up on the reason he quit practicing Law, he was hung up on the circumstances that forced him to quit.

Alex was right. Their marriage was beyond repair. He just nodded stiffly, looking back at the envelope, sinking into the armchair, overcome with shock.

The fairytale was over, with just four words.

* * *

 


End file.
